James Norris
James Norris has led the $213 million SkyPoint Federal Credit Union in Germantown, Md., for the past 12 years and has dedicated himself to the credit union for 42 years in all. Last week, Norris announced his plans to retire after steering the credit union through years of economic challenges while growing the credit union's bottom line.
In a statement, Norris said, "It's been an honor to have had the opportunity to connect and work with so many fantastic people over the course of my career and together have an impact on our communities and members. While we've seen much evolution in the credit union industry over the last 42 years – specifically with technology – it's the people I've worked with along the way that have really made the difference."
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Norris began his credit union career at 22 years old when he became manager/CEO of Mercy Hospital Employees Federal Credit Union in Baltimore and later went to work at the $5.2 billion State Employees Credit Union of Maryland in Linthicum as a branch manager. Eventually, those positions led Norris to become vice president of delivery systems at NIHFCU ($838 million, Rockville, Md.) and then CEO of AFL-CIO Credit Union in Washington, D.C. In 2011, he began his tenure at SkyPoint.
Beginning his CEO position at SkyPoint on the heels of the Great Recession, Norris was able to expand the credit union's field of membership, earn a Community Development Financial Institution designation and lead the credit union through a rebranding strategy in 2018 when SkyPoint was still known as Montgomery County Employees Federal Credit Union.
Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Norris was able to more than double Skypoint's assets and member loans more than tripled from $44 million to $154 million, according to the credit union.
Norris said, "Something I learned early on and have always practiced is to listen to my employees' ideas. I'm humbled by all that my teams and I together have been able to accomplish and thank them for their contributions and impact. I wish them much continued success and look forward to new experiences as I enter the next stage of my life."
Norris will officially step down on April 21.
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Michael Ogden
Editor-in-Chief at CU Times. To connect, email at [email protected]. As Editor-in-Chief of CU Times since 2016, Michael Ogden has led the editorial team in all aspects of content strategy and execution, including the creation of the publication’s exclusive and proprietary research database of the credit union industry’s economic landscape. Under Michael’s leadership, CU Times has successfully shifted to an all-digital editorial product with new focuses on the payments, fraud, lending and regulatory beats. Most recently, he introduced a data-focused editorial product for subscribers that breaks down credit union issues into hard data, allowing for a deeper and more factual narrative for readers. In 2024, he launched the "Shared Accounts With CU Times" podcast, which offers a fresh, inside-the-newsroom perspective through interviews with leaders from the credit union industry and the regulatory world. He dives into pressing credit union issues, while revealing the personalities working behind-the-scenes to push the credit union world forward. His background includes years as a radio and TV anchor/reporter and a public relations and digital/social media manager, where he covered the food and music industries, as well as cooperatives and credit unions. Over the years, he has launched numerous exclusive video and podcast series, including a successful series of interactive backstage interviews with musicians at music festivals, showcasing his social media and live streaming production skills.
